UWGB chancellor may be chosen by summer

GREEN BAY – The search for the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s sixth chancellor is on schedule, and officials said a new leader should be in place this summer.

Applications to fill Chancellor Thomas Harden’s position were accepted through March 28, and a search committee met Friday to review the files.

Harden, who took over the job in June 2009, said in December he is stepping down this year to spend more time with family.

“We are right on track,” UW-Green Bay spokeswoman Kelly Moore said Friday. “Certainly a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes.”

The 23-member Chancellor Search and Screen Committee hosted several community meetings earlier this year as the process began. The committee did not share the number of applicants, but Moore said members were “pleased with the number and caliber of those who applied.”

“From what I’m hearing, they are good candidates,” she said. “People were interested in the university and the emphasis on interdisciplinary studies. I know at least a few candidates made mention of that.”

Preliminary candidate interviews will take place later this month, Moore said, with on-campus interviews of five finalists set for May.

As part of that process, each finalist will participate in an on-campus forum open to the public, Moore said.

“It’s extremely important to have public input,” she said, noting the chancellor not only leads the university but also works with businesses, government leaders and others in efforts to strengthen the community.

In mid-April, the search committee is expected to recommend semi-finalists to the UW System president and a special Board of Regents committee, which is being led by Regent Tim Higgins of Appleton.

A list of finalists will be identified in early May, and, after a series of public presentations and personal interviews, the UW System president and the Regent committee will recommend someone to the full board, which must approve the appointment. That is expected to happen at the board’s June meeting, according to Moore.

The local search committee is working with search firm Storbeck Pimentel & Associates.

The committee includes 12 UW-Green Bay faculty members, two academic staff members, two other staff members and two students, as wells as two administrators and three area residents.

The new chancellor is expected to be in place before the start of the 2014-15 school year. Harden, 65, has not announced when he will step down.

The transition will give him more time to help with UW-Green Bay fundraising efforts, Harden said in December. Needs include more student scholarships, various academic needs, the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts and new outdoor facilities for student recreation and athletics, he said.

Harden plans to return to teaching in 2015.

Harden was preceded as chancellor by Bruce Shepard, who served from 2001-08; Mark Perkins, 1994-2001; the late David L. Outcalt, 1986-1993 and founding chancellor Edward W. Weidner, 1966-1986.